Asked about Orombi’s statements, Nzimbi told Ecumenical News International, “I don’t want to comment on that but what I know is the Anglican Communion surrounds the see of Canterbury, and the Canterbury see is respected by all of us, and we would like the Anglican Communion to continue.”
He said, “The archbishop of Canterbury should continue calling [the] Lambeth [Conference] but let us go back to what it used to be.” This was understood to mean that there should be a common understanding that homosexuality is sinful and homosexuals should not be in positions of leadership in the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Nzimbi said Anglican leaders who took part in a gathering in June in Jerusalem of the Global Anglican Future Conference, or GAFCON as it is known, will meet shortly to map a way forward after the Lambeth Conference. GAFCON is widely seen as having been an “alternative” Lambeth Conference that brought together opponents of openly gay bishops and same-sex blessings.
The Kenyan archbishop took issue with remarks by Robinson, according to whom leaders such as Nzimbi are calling for the exclusion from the Anglican Communion of those churches that support the greater inclusion of gay and lesbian people.
Nzimbi said the current problem within the Anglican Communion was not based on who should stay or go, but on compliance to the word of God.
“When you obey the Scriptures you repent of your sins. What is … bringing problems is the interpretation of the Scriptures,” he said. “If we all obey the Scriptures, and what they tell us, I know that inner oneness will make us have the outer form of the Anglican Communion that which we want.”